07 Thematic Residency: The Wanderer

Oliver Lutz will lead weekly excursions into the surrounding wilderness of Banff National Park and discussions aimed at bringing participants closer to (or further from) contemporary notions of wandering. With its conception in the Romantic movement, the Wanderer, traveling on foot, sometimes without a particular goal, has been the subject of many literary, musical, and visual art works.  For artists and intellectuals identifying with the Wanderer, the motif has represented, literally and figuratively, the individual’s inward quest - often through a communing with nature.

Contemporary ideas about both the individual and nature make this solitary romantic figure, standing before a mysterious mountain landscape, less accessible to us.  Is the Wanderer who once contemplated misty pinnacles better represented today by climbers in high-tech alpine gear, gamers sitting in front of a Wii console, window shoppers perambulating along urban streets, or spectators watching NASCAR?

Participants will apply their own art-making practices, conceptual, performative, representational or otherwise, in the studio, on the trail, and possibly in the thicket.